


Break on through (to the other side)

by Perlmutt



Series: SteveTonyTober 2020 [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Boys In Love, Demons, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Ghosts, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Short & Sweet, Slice of Life, Soulmates, SteveTonyTober2020, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:08:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27270217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perlmutt/pseuds/Perlmutt
Summary: Tony was four when he realized that he wasn't like the other kids his age, or even the adults around him. He had a breakdown crying in Jarvis' arms when he was six. When he was ten he was already an expert in hiding it. Three years later he'd learned to cope with it.Tony Stark was a child genius, too smart for his own good, the heir to the Stark empire, neglected by his parents… Oh, and he could see ghosts and demons.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: SteveTonyTober 2020 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954639
Comments: 14
Kudos: 99





	Break on through (to the other side)

**Author's Note:**

> SteveTonyTober 2020  
> Day 29: Ghosts / Demons
> 
> Title taken from the infamous song of the Doors.  
> I had originally planned to end this story at a certain point but I just couldn't do it in the end. You'll see what I'm talking about...
> 
> Not beta'ed, English is not my mother language.

Tony was four when he realized that he wasn't like the other kids his age, or even the adults around him. He had a breakdown crying in Jarvis' arms when he was six. When he was ten he was already an expert in hiding it. Three years later he'd learned to cope with it.

Tony Stark was a child genius, too smart for his own good, the heir to the Stark empire, neglected by his parents… Oh, and he could see ghosts and demons.

They followed him around, most of them were friendly, told him their stories, where they came from and why they couldn't find peace and then vanished after a day or two. But some were indeed evil, whispered lies and hurtful things in his ears until he couldn't tell which words were from the ghosts and which were from the humans around him. He avoided other people when those kinds of demons would follow him around. The various classmates he had over the years avoided him too, because of his strange and inscrutable behavior.

Then, on a sunny Wednesday in his last year of MIT, he woke up in his dorm room to a blond guy sitting on the edge of his bed. He didn't even blink twice at him. He looked like one of the good-natured kinds of ghosts he was used to. Tony threw the covers back and the fabric went right through the ghost. He was silently sitting at the foot of his bed and watched Tony leave the bedroom to go to the bathroom. When he returned he looked at the guy again. He was frail and short, with a sickly greyish sheen to his skin, like he didn't get enough to eat before he passed on to the other side. The old-fashioned clothes were too big for his frame. But his facial features were clean cut, his fair hair resembled spun gold, and his eyes were as blue as the sky with a depth and a defiant glimmer that Tony hadn't expected to find.

The ghost didn't talk on that first day and Tony ignored him. If the guy didn't want to talk that was fine too. Still, he followed him around and weirdly enough, he wasn't gone, even after almost five days. That was a first. His voice was quiet but steady when he spoke for the first time.

“My name's Steve. Am I dead?”

“I'm Tony. I don't know. Maybe you are, maybe you're not."

“Why am I here? Why can you see me?”

“Dunno. I can just see you. And all the other ghosts and demons around us.”

“Hmm… Can I stay with you?”

“Sure. You seem nice enough. Make yourself comfortable.”

Steve stayed.

He listened to Tony's science babble when he was binge-inventing, offered a comforting ear when Tony cried in the dead of night after a fight with his father, cheered him on when he made headway with a new scientific accomplishment, scowled at him when he woke up hungover after a long night with too much alcohol and too many women, and somehow over the years he became a trustworthy steadiness in Tony's life.

Tony never figured out why Steve was the only ghost that stayed. Ever since Steve had appeared it had somehow become easier. Tony relied on Steve to be there when he woke up, and the fear of him some day simply vanishing was scaring him.

Steve never found out if he was dead. He couldn't remember a thing from before the moment he'd found himself sitting in Tony's bedroom. It was a bit unsettling, but Tony didn't dwell on the thought too much. He'd long since given up on finding a scientific explanation to ghosts, demons, and why he could see and interact with them.

In retrospect Tony wasn't sure if he'd survived his captivity in the desert without Steve, or if he'd found way to safe his sorry ass when the palladium core was slowly poisoning him without the blonde ghost's support. Steve had stayed with him through every up and down, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise when Tony one day woke up and just knew that he'd fallen in love with a ghost. He loved the way Steve would adorably cock his head at him in question, how his long blonde lashes fanned over his high cheekbones, loved his dry humor and his steadfast confidence in life no matter how shitty his own must have been for him to end up as a ghost, who was stuck with one and the same guy for over 20 years.

Sadly the day Tony woke up with this realization was also the day that Steve was gone.

There was no trace left of him ever being part of Tony's life except for Tony's memories of him and how his heart broke in his chest.

Three weeks after Tony's epiphany that left him empty and hollow, he received a call from Fury. Without any explanation he was called in to meet the director of SHIELD and the Avengers initiative's new leader. Depressed and demotivated he walked into the office and saw Fury sitting at his table. A tall and obviously muscular man in a dark blue combat suit was standing with his back to Tony in front of the director's table. Tony was about to open his mouth and tell the one-eyed pirate that he wasn't interested in his super secret boy band when the blond hunk of a man turned around and their eyes met. Tony stopped dead in his tracks and his mouth fell open in shock. He'd never forget those eyes, eyes even bluer than the sky.

“Steve…!” His voice was a whisper and he stood there in the doorway to Fury's office, while his whole world was being turned upside down.

“Tony.” It was the same voice. Steve might look different now, but Tony would never forget the voice of the man that had been his bastion of calm for so long. A smile so warm and happy like Tony had never seen before played over Steve's lips and with two bounding strides he was in Tony's personal space, cradling him lovingly against his broad chest. Tony buried his nose in Steve's neck and a wave of happiness washed over him. The feeling of Steve under his fingers after so many years brought tears to his eyes. He was finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story!! ♡
> 
> Two days left of SteveTonyTober. Might make one longer story for those two days instead of two shorter ones... who knows?


End file.
